Captured Rage
by Kojiokida2
Summary: When the Outlaw Star happens upon a mysterious pod in space, a new adventure for it's crew begins. (Chapter 7 up! Had to change first genre for plot details)
1. Beginings

I do not own Outlaw star... ok enough with the disclaimers  
  
Gene flipped a deck of cards between his fingers, a bored expression of his face. He was sitting in the pilot seat of the Outlaw Star with his feet up. The endless reaches of space just a few meters in front of him, separated by a single pane of glass. The other seats around him, including the navigation tank Melfina usually floated in were empty. Everyone else was somewhere else on the ship doing something or other. Business had been somewhat slow and without any regular source on income, they were forced to sit her waiting till someone answered their add call. Money was so scare that Gene was even considering calling Fred Luo to make some kind of deal. Picking out the ace of spade, Gene stared at it for a while, before placing it back in the pack. Yawning loudly, he folded his arms behind his head and leaned back against the chair. In a few more hours it would be Jim's turn to man the phones "so the speak" so until then he could catch a little shut eye. He was just starting to drift off when the Ship computer's voice came down from the speaker on the ceiling.  
  
"Gene?" Starwind groaned loudly, opening one eye.   
  
"What is it Gilliam?" He asked, a hint of frustration in his voice.  
  
"I have an object on long range sensors, amongst a fleetingly small asteroid field." Gene opened the other eye, finally looking interested. He sat up, he hands on the edge of his arm rests.  
  
"Another ship?" He asked.   
  
"No, I am detecting no engine signal. I do detect traces of metals such as Copper, steal and magnesium however." Gene scratched the side of his chin. "It may be something salvageable." Gene liked that idea. Salvaging something worth any value would help their financial problems decline.   
  
"Gilliam, your starting to think more like me." He announced with a wide smile, he didn't hear the computer mutter…  
  
"Heaven forbid."   
  
"Ok, bring it in. Have Aisha and Jim meet me down in the loading bay will ya?" In a circle of meteorites floated a strange round object, different from the others in many ways. As the red ship drifted closer to the object, the light coming from the ships windows highlighted it. A sphere about the size of a small car, encrusted with asteroid debris. The surface of the metallic ball had carvings on it, rune like scriptures that covered the shining surface. Unbeknownst to anyone, the ball had been floating in that dark abyss for time beyond time. As the Outlaw Star passed by, one of it's large articulate arms reached out and snatched it. It smashed against a few steroids a few times, but eventually it was brought on board. As the arm retracted into the ship with it's prize, the hanger doors on the under ship of the ship closed behind it.   
  
"Ok, let's see what we have here." Jim Hawking said to himself, approaching the strange object. The arm had let go of it and had placed the ball directly in the centre of the cargo hold. Brushing a few strands of blond hair out of the way of his eyes, Jim encircled the ball studying the details carefully. "Hey Aisha, these runes could be of C'tral C'tral origin. Can you take a look?" He asked as studying a select group of in scriptures in depth and recognising a few C'tral C'tral symbols. The cat girl was watching the ball with a suspicious eye. Eventually, he pushed herself away from the wall and went over, the bell around her neck making a soft jingle. Jim pointed out the runes in question and she bent down to take a better look. Her eyes scanned the almost gothic looking cravings carefully.   
  
"Ok Jimmy boy, sure, these are definitely C'tral C'tral." She said, finally picking up enough to be sure. "But I'm not sure of the dialect." She added. Gene was around the other side, scanning the orb to see how much metal it contained and how much they could sell it for on the market. He began scrapping away the thick crust of rock that was covering a part of it he wanted to scan. It was almost a thick curved slab of rock that fell away when he applied a little force.   
  
"Er…Jim…" He said almost absently, looking at the picture he had uncovered. Jim and Aisha came around to his side to see what he was looking at. Under the crust of rock had been a large symbol, not a rune but more of a picture. It showed a humanoid figure with ankles and wrists tied to a encircling ring. The figure had a pair of wings sprouting out of his back. In place of a mouth it had a beck, and a plume of feathers sprouted out of the top of it's head. As soon as she laid eyes of it, Aisha gasped out load and backed away.  
  
"Aisha, what's the mater?" Jim asked, looking puzzled. The C'tral C'tral didn't answer, she just kept staring at the symbol in horror. Without warning, she screamed in terror…  
  
"Before the formation of the C'tral C'tral empire, there were two races that warred with each other for dominance of our home world." Aisha explained once the entire crew of the Outlaw Star were assembled. Aisha looked shattered, her hand on her face, her fingers clenched around her silver hair. Her long ears laid almost directly against the side of her head. She was still shivering as she recovered from shock. Melfina had a hand on her shoulder, Jim was starting to feel a little nervous about the thing they had here. There had been little in the past to get Aisha this shock up. "One was obviously my race, the other was a species of winged and feathered creatures that called themselves Gungen."   
  
"A Ctral home world civil war?" Suzuka muttered, looking a little confused. She had been circling the orb carefully, paying special detail to the symbol that had gotten Aisha so scared. On her travels, her mis-adventures with the pirates, her job as the infamous assassin "Twilight Suzuka" she'd never seen anything quite like this. It seemed strange to her that she hadn't come across something similar.   
  
"I've never even heard of that." Gene put in, scratching the side of his chin. "How about you Jim?" The blond haired boy shock his head.   
  
"No, I had no idea."  
  
"We won naturally, but in the process we accidentally wiped out most of their race." Aisha continued, regaining some control over her shivering. "Only one of them remained, one of their best and most powerful war lords, who we simply couldn't kill."  
  
"Who was he?" Melfina asked, putting both hands on her shoulders in an efforts to try and reassure her better.   
  
"I don't know, no body remembers his name, it was so long ago." She said after a long hesitating pause.  
  
"Well, whoever he was, he seems to scare the hell out of you." Gene commented with a crude smile. Aisha looked up at him angrily.  
  
"I'm not scared, just a little cautious that's all." She said, trying to sound affirmative but failed miserably. "He was simply too strong to take down or capture, so we used other means to get rid of him." She looked over toward the ball again, her eyes locked onto the symbol as if entranced by it. "We had to use an untested form of teleportation technology to transport him into a prison orb and eject it into space." Upon finishing her story, Aisha went uncharacteristically quiet. Gene stared at her with dumfounded looked on his face.  
  
"You made that up." He said eventually. Aisha roared up, her eyes narrowing into little silts.   
  
"Listen here you pathetic human, AISHA CLAN CLAN DOSE NOT LIE!" Gene backed of, hands held out in front.  
  
"If it makes you feel more secure Miss Clan Clan." Gilliam's voice drifted down from the ceiling, one of his coke can sized robots passing on a rail overhead. "I'll have the security camera monitor the object until we offload it at the nearest port. Aisha folded her arms, looking stubborn.  
  
"What would make me," He paused to alter her voice to sound like Gilliam's, "Feel secure, is if we dumped that thing back into space."   
  
"WOAH, hold on there." Gene said, jumping in front of her. "This things carrying metals worth a truck load of money, we can't simply drop it back in the asteroid field and forget we found it."   
  
"I'm with Gene on this one," Jim muttered. "As hard as that is to believe."   
  
"Fine." Aisha said out the corner of her mouth, sulking like a spoilt child. "But if something goes terribly wrong, I told you so." With that, she turned on her heal and stormed away, shoulders held upward in a famous irritated cat type of body language. A few minutes passed in silence, the only sound coming from Gilliam's wires and clicks.  
  
"You know Gene," Jim began. "I'm not found of the idea of a crazed alien bent on revenge coming out of that pod." Starwind sighed loudly, putting both hands to his forehead.   
  
"You didn't really believe any of that did you?" He asked with a superior smirk on his face.   
  
"I thought she was telling the truth." Melfina said distantly, looking at the pod with an innocent expression. Gene managed to subdue a chuckle.   
  
"I've heard some wild tales in my time, but that one.." He laughed out load. "The biggest load of crap I've ever heard." he ran his fingers through his hair, his laughing subsiding into a sigh.   
  
"Well, if this "Gungen" or whatever it is comes out of there, I'll make short work of it." Suzuka said with a menacing tone of voice, both hands on her wooden sword.   
  
The door slammed behind them all, and the lights turned off instantly. The only source of illumination coming from a shaft of light that highlighted the strange metallic orb. The scriptures carved on it's surface now made by shadows. Gilliam's robots crossed the ceiling, scanning the object every time they entered the room.   
  
A singular consciousness, undetectable by any electronic means was felling restless. For the first time in centuries it had come into close proximity with other sentient life forms. It saw it's change to break free and it was not going to let the opportunity pass it by.   
  
First Outlaw Star fic, not bad considering I don't watch the anime too much. I'd like at least five reviews for I add the next chapter. 


	2. Ancient hatred

Well, I didn't get five reviews but since i finished this anyway, I thought I might as well post it.  
  
Suzuka's meditation was starting to be interrupted, by a presence she did not fully understand. A presence that scared her. A presence composed of rage, anger but also overwhelming amounts of grief. Soon it started dogging her thoughts all the time. Every second of every minute was there in the back of her mind, lying in the wait like some starved animal. It took a while, but Suzuka finally realized exactly where this feeling was coming from.   
  
Almost immediately she found herself in the hanger, directly in front of the strange metallic silver orb they had dragged from space a mere day ago. The shaft of light it was bathed it gave the comb top a soft glow. The symbols standing out like deep scars. She was breathing heavily and her wooden sword was clasped tightly in both hands.   
  
"It's you isn't it?" She demanded. The orb did not reply. Instead, the presence in her mind seemed to double in size, almost to the point were her own consciousness was fighting with it for room inside her head. "Stop it, get out of my mind." Again, it grew larger, slamming her own self with a metal blast. Angry, Suzuka heaved her wooden sword back, preparing to strike a heavy blow on the orb. She was getting desperate now, otherwise she wouldn't have considered such an action. She was beginning to feel that eventually, it would push her out entirely and take her place. She swung her sword across, but something inside her, forced her to curve her attack so she missed the orb entirely.   
  
Without warning, her body was no longer hers. She found her actions were not of her own doing, this strange wilful and ravenous consciousness had taken direct control. Her left hand let go of the hilt of her sword and advanced toward the largest symbol on the ball. The one with the bird like figured strapped to a ring. Her fingers felt around the circle until they found a small hidden button on the top. A button that would have remained hidden if she had not been guided. She was trying with all her strength to pull her hand away, but the will of this intruder was far too strong.  
  
She pressed it.  
  
"Sentinel 3, course plotted and set." Jim announced, working over his station in the bridge. Apart from Gene and himself, the bridge was vacant. Gene, bright and alert was always, had his feet up and arms behind his head. Jim stared at him in disbelief. Wouldn't Gene ever grow up? He may have the interests of an adult, but he still acted like a child.   
  
Gene already had a buyer for the orb they'd collected, ready and waiting with the money on Sentinel 3. He'd been able to add a few more zeroes to the cheque than were necessary but the buyer didn't seem to care, once he'd heard about the orb he was most interest in purchasing it. By Jim's calculations, the money he was offering would more than help them repay their debts, with enough left over to push Starwind and Hawking Enterprises into big time business. There was a nagging concern which Jim wanted to eliminate.   
  
Exactly why was their buyer so interest in this particular artefact? Obviously not for the metals, he wanted to hear exactly what the orb looked like, symbols engraved on it and all. Probably a collector of artefacts, but Jim wasn't so sure. Whatever he wanted this strange orb for, Jim doubted he would like the answer. But since his money was good, he felt he needed to keep his mouth shut and opinions to himself.  
  
"75,000! Gene muttered in delight. "Man, what a lucky break." He sighed, putting his feet back down on the floor. Ideas were swimming around in his head about what he could do with all that money once their debts were paid. A few upgrades for the XGP, a new headquarters for their business instead of some warehouse by the docks, that mint 11th century blade he'd been eyeing for some time…  
  
Cutting of his thoughts, the entire ship shook in alliance to a defining loud explosion. Gene from thrown from his seat onto the floor, Jim struggling to keep hold of his station. With a faint buzz, the lights overhead went out, leaving them in total darkness. "What the hell?" Gene demanded, trying to pull himself up as the shaking floor began to subside. "Gilliam, what was that?" There wasn't any reply.   
  
"Gilliam?" Jim asked, looking up and around, confused. Again their ship's computer system didn't answer. "Damn it, he's been knocked offline." Gene growled angrily. This was NOT what he needed right now.   
  
"I can't believe this…Jim, see what you can do here. I'll see what that explosion was." Leaving Jim behind to fiddle around with the ship's systems, Gene left the bridge, his fingers tucked around the Castor's trigger. He had a sinking feeling that perhaps they'd been attacked by pirates, possibly after his ticket to financial independence. He wouldn't put anything past them.   
  
Aisha felt the ship surge and was instantly on her feet, looking around in confusion. When the lights went off leaving her complete darkness, the C'tral C'tral waited silently. Waiting to see what was happening. When nothing else changed, she realized that something was wrong. Her eyes could see in the dark far better than any human, so she found her way to the com device in the wall. Her own quarters was a complete mess, magazines all over the floor. Bed left in an crumpled heap, but that wasn't really her fault since it was a human bed, C'tral C'tral's found it rather difficult to sleep in them so they rearranged the quilts and pillows to something more fitting. The ceiling was stained by some means that even Aisha had forgotten. Two bottles of sake, one half full sat on the bed side table. A pile of plates stacked table high sat in the concern, the remains of forgotten food lying on the side, slowly evolving intelligence. But this was normal.  
  
"Gene, what the crap do you think your doing?" She demanded, angrily waiting for an answer from the machine. There was complete and utter silence. She blinked, looking a little confused. "Gene?" Still no reply. A power surge must have knocked out the systems, she thought to herself, growling angrily at the same time. Guess she couldn't blame Gene for this…shame.  
  
Pushing the door open, Aisha advanced out into the corridor outside. It was as dark out her and it was in her room. Only her cat like vision kept her from bumping into the wall on the opposite side.  
  
"Suzuka? Jimmy boy?" Her voice echoed several times, but she received no reply to any of them. Sighing loudly, she made way toward the kitchen area. This was a side room with a few pots and pans piled up in the sink. Aisha liked spending as much time as Melfina did here, although she could never understand why the Androids cooking was more well received by the Crew of the Outlaw Star. Then again, humans simply weren't advanced enough to fully appreciate the mastery that was C'tral C'tral cooking.   
  
"Melfina?" She asked weakly, when she heard a loud grunt coming from behind her. Whipping around, she faced nothing. Only more darkness. She rubbed the back of her neck absently, for a moment she was certain she'd felt some warm breath. A speak of colour caught her attention and she looked down. Sitting on the work surface next to a chopping board was a large red feather. About the size of her hand from wrist to finger tip and it had a brown tint around the edges. She picked it up absently, turning it over in her hands.   
  
Both of her ears twitched when a load rustling sound hissed from a hidden location nearby. Aisha looked around, her breath quickening. Her silver hair swaying over her jade eyes. "Hello?" She asked, sensing the presence of…something. Summoning some of the famous C'tral C'tral pride, she stepped forward, defiant of the nagging fear in the back of her mind. "Show yourself!" The darkness was silent. "I know your there, some on out so I can see you." A loud snorting sound echoed from the shadows. Suddenly, two long talons emerged and slammed down on the metal floor. They were attached to a scaly leg as toes. The scales only lasted until the knee where blood red feathers soon replaced them. An arm with the same features surfaced, and another leg. A pair of green eyes snapped open, almost the same colour as hers but a lighting tint around the pupils. A pair of wings, half cloaked in shadows slowly emerged. This creature Aisha recognised it in a heart beat and her pride, courage and determination, the very features she was famous for, melted away. Her hair stood almost and end and her face nearly went completely white.   
  
Then she did something that defied her character completely; she ran away. She turned on her heal and ran as fast as she could, dropping the red feather.  
  
"You can't escape me!" A chilled icy voice, than pierced her with more fear than she'd ever known. "I'll tear all your kind to pieces for what you did not my brethren!" She was well aware than the Gungen, for there was no doubt in her mind that it was that which she feared most, was chasing her. She was fast, but the winged being was keeping up with her easily. She looked back over her shoulder, it was jumping from wall to wall, all the time it's sickening green eyes locked on her.   
  
Aisha surprised even herself when a surge of courage, some perhaps she'd kept in reserve, give her new strength. Why was she running? She was a C'tral C'tral, they ran from nothing. If her ancestors could face them, they so could she, regardless of how strong this particular one may be. Another thing was driving her, her study to her species' empire. She could not let this creature return to exact it's revenge on her people. She was still scared, but she knew her duty. The creature looked somewhat surprised by her sudden defiance, it stopped dead. Half cloaked in shadows. She could see it all now. It really did look like the legends and ancient history accounts said.   
  
A humanoid race, with large feathered wings out it's back. Their fore arms and calves were covered in brown scales, very much like those on a birds legs. It had a beak, a short one with two nostrils on the soft bridge that connected it to it's face. A sort row of jagged feathers branching out the top of it's head. It ha d a height advantage over her by a good few feet. "Congratulations, you've just become one of the foolish few who have openly challenged the warlord Rage." Snarling loudly, he leapt at Aisha with speed that matched her one. She only managed to dodged to the side, but not quick enough to avoid her arm being nicked by the talons.   
  
Roaring loudly, she leapt at him. The fear gripping her body was intense, but she pushed herself through it, trying to claw at the GunGen's face. It easily deflected her attacks, and forced itself forward, taking the offensive. Those talons were lethal, so trying to block them was out of the question. Speed was the only thing that could save her in this fight. She kept dodging, waiting for the right moment. Then, when the Gungen let it's guard down for a moment, she threw a punch directly into it's face. It caught the blow directly between the eyes and went sent flying into the side of the wall. A metallic clank resonated down the corridor. it's closed it's eyes and hissed loudly in pain. Aisha smiled evilly, perhaps they had exaggerated about this creatures strength. It opened one eye, glaring right at her. Growling, it pulled itself off the dent it had made in the wall.   
  
The Gungen snapped it's head to the side, then held both hands out in front of itself. A ball of orange light papered between it's large talons, arching and crackling as it grew both in size and power. The glow highlighted it's face, green eyes burning with ancient hatred. With an angry yell, it chucked itself at her. Well, so much for that theory, Aisha thought to herself, jumping to the side. Narrowing avoiding the blast, which tore a hole straight through the wall into a storage area.   
  
An agonizing scream brought her attention back to her opponent. It had it's hands on it's head, it's neck tilted back. The wings were spread out wide and fluttering wildly. She just stared at it, one eye twitching. Slowly, it began to shrink. Loosing the height advantage it had on her until it's face and hers were at an equal level. The short crop of feathers on it's head grew longer until one of them overhung it's face. It doubled over, revealing it's face. It's eyes were changed from green to red, and back again, going faster and faster. It was slowly loosing the angry, hate filled expression it had been wearing. Most starling of all, it's features starting changing from blood red to jade, the exact same colour as her own eyes. Still while the red was the dominant colour, it turned and ran. Aisha ran after it, but by the time she'd gotten to a concern, it had disappeared completely. She kept herself on the alert, still uncertain as to whether this was simply a trick to lure her into a false sense of security. Something caught her eye and she looked down. On the floor was the feather she'd dropped earlier.   
  
It had changed completely from red to green.  
  
Suzuka was still trembling. When that thing had left her mind, the hole it created was keeping her from taking control of her body. She was barley able to stand. She wasn't physically week, but her mind was still recovering from a direct assault. Using her wooden sword for support, she stumbled toward the entrance of the cargo area. The only thing on her mind right now was tearing the thing which had used her like some puppet apart.   
  
"Suzuka, you ok?" A voice asked and she left a pair of hands steady her. Her eyes managed to focus long enough to see a familiar face, two scars on the left side of his face, long red hair and steal grey eyes.   
  
"Gene, I'm sorry. I couldn't defy it's will." She blurted out, just able to form hear able words. Starwind helped her up.   
  
"What do you mean, defy what." Suddenly, he remembered the story Aisha told him and he looked up toward the rob. It sat where it always had, but the engraved symbols had gone. Only a smooth surface lay in it's place.  
  
Authors notes: Romance will come eventually, I just like to build up to it with a little drama. Thanks to Ansem Revived and Macky for the Reviews. 


	3. Spilt personalites

"Ok, let's try this again" Jim muttered, frustrated over his failed first few times to get Gilliam back on line. He'd taken his jacket off, which was draped over the back of his seat. Apparently the explosion on the ship had severed a few command circuits. Replacing them was tricky business and extremely difficult, the slightest mistake and he'd have to start all over again. It had been over half an hour since Gene left to investigate the cause of the explosion and he hadn't come back yet. The com system was still down so he couldn't contact him over the ship's communication systems, so Jim decided that he'd give his partner another few minutes before he started to get worried. 

"Jim, what's going on?" Melfina asked as she emerged onto the bridge, a surprised look on her face. Jim chuckled out load.

"That's what I'd like to know." He stated, before going back to work. "Pass me that will ya?" He added, pointing to a bunch of computer boards piled on the side. Melfina picked the one on the top up, then passed it to Jim. The next few minutes were in complete silence at Jim's request, trying his best not to screw his work up. Melfina, who wasn't really much of a talker to begin with, respected the request and said nothing. 

Jim paused a second to consider a few thoughts that had been dogging his mind. Melfina's relationship with Gene had been on and off ever since that whole Layline business. Lately however, their bound had been getting stronger and stronger. It seemed odd, considered that the two of them couldn't be any more different. Gene was loud and boisterous, Melfina was quiet and serene. Jim briefly considered the phrase, opposites attract, before another more pleasing thought came to mind. One that was instantly rejected by his scientific mind, but his simple child like nature welcomed it unconditionally. He was beginning to wonder if eventually Melfina and Gene would officially adopt him. It was an idea that made Aisha burst out laughing. Since his own parents…well, went, Jim had pretty much been on his own parentally speaking. With Gene around, he'd had to evolve a sense of responsibility and maturity rather quickly. But inside he still yearned for someone to call mother and father. Of course he would never actually admit that out load. 

Jim slid out from the computer terminal and replaced the panel since it was as good as it was going to get. He turned to ask Melfina if she could lend him a hand rebooting Gilliam when he froze, his eyes fixed on one point. His mouth open in shock. 

Melfina blinked, then looked directly behind her. Sitting in Gene's seat was an unfamiliar green feathered creature. It looked exactly like a humanoid parrot, short beak, a long quaff of feathers on the top of it's head. Both It's forearms and calves were made of saurian likes scales with talons acting as toes and fingers. A pair of wings nestled behind it's back. It crouched, but straightened up it's height would more or less be equal to Aisha's. It was staring at them with curious, ruby red eyes. Jim slowly pulled himself up, his eyes never moving away from this strange intruder. 

"Melfina, don't make any sudden movements." Melfina seemed to be ignoring Jim, as she stood up to study this bird like creature from a greater height. It's wings fluttered slightly and it reshuffled it's feet as if it was sitting on a perch. 

"Hello." She said sweetly, extending a hand toward it. It observed her further for a moment, before slowly lifting on of it's scaly hands. 

"Hello." It replied, placing it's hand on hers, palm down. Jim's stunned sense got the better of him and he blurted out angrily.

"Who the hell are you?!" The out burst startled the creature and it hopped backward, almost falling on the edge of the seat.

"Jim, can't you see he's scarred?" Melfina asked angrily, her eyes hard set in a very uncharacteristic look for her. Jim stared at her blankly.

"Melfina, we don't know where this thing came from." He argued back, pointing at it. The creature stared at him through narrowing eyes, then he stepped down off the seat, standing up straight. From the knees and elbows down were scales. 

"I don't understand…" It said, trailing off, looking around in a confused daze. "Where am I?" It added, sounding like it had just woken up from some long sleep and it's senses were not yet fully awake. Melfina put a hand on it's shoulder, her fingers sinking into the feathers. A compassionate understanding look on her face. Jim was completely startled. Melfina could very well be the incarnation of kindness, she showed it to everyone she meet, whoever or in this case, whatever they were. 

"What's your name?" She asked, while Jim looked on in silent shock. It still looked confused, unable to grasp any concept for more than a few moments before it slipped away again.

"Mal Zenith," He replied. "Or at least I think it is." Mal Zenith was the strangest looking creature Jim had ever seen. It looked like it could possibly be related to the Saurian race, but he couldn't be entirely sure.

Melfina could see this new creature was scared, confused as feeling very alone. While she wondered where he had come from and what he was doing here, she put it aside for the moment. To her, making him feel more at ease was far more important. "Why can't I remember anything else?" He asked. 

Jim was caught in indecision, he knew Melfina well enough to trust her instincts, but on this occasion he wasn't so sure whether to follow her example or not. Mal Zenith didn't appear dangerous, more like a kind of confused teenager. The question still remained, should be try to help? Well that's a stupid question, of course he would.

"Are you hungry?" He asked, approaching little by little. Melfina smiled warmly at him, miming "thank you" with her lips. Mal Zenith's stomach growled angrily. "I'll take that as a yes." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the only food he had on him, a crunchy nut bar of which he'd already taken a bit of. He passed it the bird like humanoid, who swallowed the thing whole while still in the wrapper. 

The next few minutes were spent trying to piece together the little information Mal Zenith could remember. From what they could understand, the only remaining memories he had were of endless blue skies, flying amongst grey clouds and tall cliff faces. Everything else was just a complete blank until a few minutes ago when he found himself wandering the corridors of the Outlaw Star, feeling exhausted. 

Obviously a case of amnesia, but exactly how much of his memory had been lost neither of them could say. 

"Exactly how old are you Mal?" Jim asked, giving the winged creature a look over. Under the feathers, he actually had quite the impressive muscular figure. To maintain that, his lifestyle must be as hectic and filed with action as Gene's. Speaking of which, Jim was beginning to wonder where he'd gotten to. Then he remembered he'd left Gilliam still in disrepair, and quickly turned back to finish what he'd started in a hurry. 

"I can't remember." Mal Zenith growled angrily, looking extremely upset with himself. He looked up, blinking one eye after the other. "I just thought, I don't know your names. Melfina introduced herself and Jim, adding in that Jim was the brains behind the Hawking and Starwind company. He blushed a little at the complement. Then she told him about the others on the ship, Gene, Suzuka and Aisha.

"You have nice friends." Mal stated, the talons on one hand curling up into a tight fist. "But this Aisha, I get the impression she isn't one of your kind." He added, looking up. Jim nodded.

"Yeah, she's a C'tral C'tral." Mal shuddered slightly, his crest feathers fluffing out. 

"Strange…" He said briefly, "I almost remembered something." His sentence died away on the "almost". He stopped, almost frozen to the spot. In his minds eye had flashed an image, one that was too jumbled to make much sense but still it frightened him. 

"There we go!" Jim exclaimed, and suddenly Gilliams systems came back on line. The lights buzzed and flicked on, and the computer terminals came to life in a loud click. The whole roomed buzzed with a feeling of reinstated life. Mal jumped slightly, looking around him in surprise.

"What in!" Exclaimed Gene. Melfina and Jim turned and he, Aisha and Suzuka came onto the bridge. Suzuka looked injured, leaning on Jean's shoulder for support. The C'tral C'tral came out from behind Gene with an irritated look on her face, she was about to say something but she spotted Mal before she could even open her mouth to say it.

"It's you!" She screamed, pointing directly at him. Mal looked even more confused than before. "It's the Gungen!" Gene, still support Suzuka, reached for his Castor. Once he had it tight in his grasp, he aimed it directly at him. 

"Gungen…" Mal repeated, looking away, contemplating the word. "Gungen?" 

"Gene, what's all this about?" Jim asked, stepping forward. Gene cast him a side glance before turning his attention back. 

"That's just what I was about to ask you." He said angrily. Things would have escalated to an even more violent situation had not Melfina stepped in to intervene. 

"Gene, that's enough." Surprised by her move, Gene lowered his weapon.

"Melfina?" As the two of them continued to talk, Aisha approached Mal Zenith, her eyes locked on him. He met her glare with a curious, soft stare. They studied each other, some natural curiosity of the other stirring inside them. 

Mal concluded that this was Aisha, since she was clearly not her companions species. Long cat like ears that ended in tuffs, a lot of spiky grey hair that came down over both sides of her face, her eyebrows were the same colour A long pony tail going down her back, a gold rind tied to the end. One her right cheek was a small tattoo of a blue triangle, around her forehead was a thin gold triangle. Her eyes, oddly enough, were the same colour as his feathers. She wore a collar with a large bell around her neck, on either side of which she had a pair of irregular shoulder pads made up of several brown segments. The rest of her clothing was a dark green, with a creamy white chest armour and grey tights. 

"You defiantly aren't Rage." She said eventually, remembering her fight with the Gungen in the corridor of the XGP who dubbed himself the Warlord Rage. Mal blinked.

"Who?" 

"But your definitely the same race, so who are you?" She asked, ignoring his query. 

"I am Mal Zenith." He replied, trying to go on the defensive. Without any warning at all, he clutched his head in pain, screaming out load. Aisha jumped away from him, landing almost behind Gene and Melfina, who had stopped arguing to pause and stare. Mal fell from the Pilot's seat onto the floor, screaming so loud he could have scattered glass. He pulled himself to his feet, still bent over, staggering around in a sate of shock.

Then his body convulsed, followed by another, the series becoming more and more frequent until it matched the rhythm of a heart beat, His beak open in shock. Beads of sweat running off the end of his feathers. Aisha backed away, the familiar feeling of insecurity growing inside her. Sudden a sudden rush, the jade feathers turned red and his eyes were infected with a stain that slowly evolved to a sickly green. His height increased by a good foot, it's wings shone like two well polished knives. A cry from a bird of prey pierced from it's open mouth, the cry of a falcon sighting it's next meal, the song of an eagle soaring through wild mountains. 

"Holy shit!" Gene exclaimed, backing away while holding his caster out in front of him. Mal Zeniths transformation completed, he stared directly at him. Gone was the quiet, confused creature. His eyes were filled with anger and loathing, directed completely at Aisha. 

"Step aside, she's mine." He growled, pushing past Gene, only to have Suzuka's wooden sword block his path. "I have no quarrel with you people, my beef is with C'tral C'tral's!" He added, staring at Suzuka with malice. Suzuka meet his stare, defiance etched into her features. 

"Mal Zenith, what are doing?" Melfina asked, almost desperately, confusion in her eyes. He snorted loudly, his wings folded together behind his back. The feathers were sleek and the reflected light gave them the streamlined appearance. Now that she could see this being in the light, Aisha felt even more fear grip her then ever before. It was the eyes that stuck her the most, that piercing stare was too much to meet head on. 

"Idiots, Mal Zenith died the moment those felines slaughtered his people!" He said with such spite and hatred Aisha felt sick to her stomach. "I was born from the overwhelming anger forced upon him. I am the Warlord Rage!" Rage shoved Suzuka aside with strength that surprised her, slamming her back against the side of Melfina's navigator pod. He continued on his course directly for Aisha, his attention fixed on her completely. 

"Back off!" Gene yelled, his finger tightening around the trigger of his castor. Suddenly, he found his hands weren't obeying him. They lot go of the caster, letting it fall to the floor. Rage watched him over one shoulder, his green eyes glowing. "What the fu…" Gene started, but was quickly silenced when his own fist smashed it's into his face, knocking him to the ground. 

Aisha took a fighting stance. She didn't know what was going on, why the peaceful Mal Zenith transformed, completely against his will she observed, into this creature. But there wasn't time to ask why, Rage was going to attack her, and after their last encounter, she knew exactly how strong he was. If she were to have any chance of defeating him, she had to hit the Gungen with everything she had. But her friends were in the way, they could get caught in the crossfire, and the XGP wasn't the best place to have that kind of battle. There must be some way of stall him, slow him down, something. Her mind raced, trying to remember everything she knew about Gungen's from the old stories. Then it hit her, the one thing that stood out in the tales above all others. Gungen's were creatures of honour.

"Jarli-Rho-li." She said, almost in a panicked rush. Rage stopped dead, one hand held toward her, aimed directly at her throat.

"What!" He asked almost in a hushed whisper. Aisha, while trembling inside, held her ground.

"You heard me!" She stated angrily, biting the side of her lip. She stared into his eyes, there was still the anger and hatred that had always been there, but now there was an element of shock and confusion.

"You offer yourself to trial by combat willingly?" He said almost as if he didn't believe what he was saying him, lowing his arms to his side. Aisha nodded once.

"Aisha, what the crap are you doing?" Gene asked in a stunned moment. C'tral C'tral ignored him, her gaze never leaving the wavering Gungen's face.

"Not just for myself, but for all my people." That took Rage a little by surprise, and he backed off a few feet, staring at her almost in total disbelief. "One trail by combat to determine wheatear or not the C'tral C'tral race is guilty or not, and I will be their representative." After a moment, he shut his beak, the Gungen equivalent of a frown crossing his face. He Didn't want to do this, she could see that, but as she had predicted, he could not forsake his honour and refuse. 

"Your braver than I first thought." He said, crossing his arms. "Fine, but you must know that if you represent the whole of the C'tral C'tral empire, then I'll come after you like I was facing it!" 

****

Authors notes: Took a bit of working out to set this chapter in motion, hope reviews like it. (hint-hint)


	4. This court is now in session

Towards Star Inn glistened brightly amongst the dark sea and blinking stars. Ships, coming and going in regular intervals. A large metallic ring orbiting around a neon blue centre with several large towers attached in a triangle shape to the bottom rotated slowly. Neon lights hung out into space, used to guide ships safely into the loading docks. One of the millions of docking stations throughout the universe. A large tanker ship was sitting in the overnight stay section, along with a few passenger ships and a long trail of the big merchant vessels. Their crews stepping off the give themselves a rest. Amongst all the giant ships coming in, no one really noticed a certain Red XGP stationed in the corner. 

Inside the station, atop the buildings was a large, often deserted platform used as a landing pad for none space capable ships. It was mainly white with a large X painted in red in the middle. It was supported by several columns of interweaving metal pillars that lanced out from a large office building. A flight of stairs lead down to the roofs below from the edge. It was so high up the streets below, teaming with people seemed insignificantly small.

Rage looked around the platform, inspecting it carefully. His eyes were glinting brightly, this would do nicely for a court room. He turned to look back over his shoulder toward the defendant as her small group of friends. The C'tral C'tral was letting herself in for more than she bargained for. Although he had to admit, her devotion to her people was impressed for that he respected her. But that didn't mean he was going to go easy on her either. Rage stretched his wings out, the tips reaching for each of the walls that separated the station from the vacuum of space. There was a loud snap, and he refolded them again. She had been clever to challenge him with Jarli-Rho-li, the Gungen trial by combat. How she had come to learn of it, he had no idea and quite frankly he didn't care. He was going to end this quickly.

"I just don't see why you can't distract him long enough for me to get a clear shot with my caster." Gene snarled angrily, glancing over toward Rage on the far side of the platform. The entire crew of the outlaw star were assembled here, some of them were trying to talk Aisha out of what they believed a terrible mistake, and others were watching Rage closely for the slightest sign of movement. 

"You wouldn't even get the chance to pull the trigger." Suzuka said sharply, her eyes looked on Gene. "That thing is able to exert his will over others, I felt know that much when he possessed me. Do you remember when you tried to fire it at him before?" Gene bared his teeth. Yes, he remembered. It was as if his hands didn't want to listen to him anymore, that they were obeying a new master. 

"This is stupid this makes this guy judge, jury and executioner." He said, folding his arms. Aisha sighed wearily. 

"It's the way their justice system operates." 

"I don't understand, Mal Zenith isn't like this." Melfina said with arched eyebrows, her voice strained.

"Well it's obvious that this isn't Mal." Jim put in, his index finger and thumb on his chin. "He's got a spilt personality. Probably comes from being locked up in that pod for so long, image what that could do to someone's sanity." Aisha turned around to stare him down.

"Are you implying this is my race's fault?" Jim backed off a few paces.

"No, not at all." He said with a nervous smile.

"I'm waiting." Rage called, his front to them, his eyes set hard on his opponent. Aisha met his gaze with concrete defiance. 

"I want all of you to stay out of this!" She said. It wasn't a request, she was demanding it of them. She walked past them toward her opponent. She had removed her armoured shoulder pads, while usually they could provide some protection, they would just slow her down. She remembered from the previous fight that if she wanted to win, speed would be essential. "I don't need any of you charging in to the rescue." He glanced at Gene over her shoulder. "Got it?" Gene muttered something under his breath that sounded suspicious like, _(It's suicide.)_

"Good luck Aisha." Suzuka sighed softly.

"This court is now is session!" Rage took a fighting stance, his talons snapping forward. "The prosecution now presents exhibit A." With a battle cry, he spread his wings and leapt toward her, the air currents stretching under his feathers carrying his lunge forward. Aisha dodged to the right, then to the left to avoid a slash from several talons. It the went into almost a repeat from their last fight, Rage charging in and Aisha dodging the attacks. All she had to do was wait for the right moment. 

Rage, unfortunately, had other ideas. "Not this time!" He sneered, before ducking down and swinging his leg around, knocking the feet out from under her. She landed hard on her back, hissing from between her teeth, one eye closed. Rage leapt into the air, then at the apex of his jump, brought his talons facing down. Aisha rolled the side the moment before Rage sank his claws into the ground. Snarling, the Gungen Warlord followed. The next few minutes were a slash fest, as both the Gungen and the C'tral C'tral drew their claws, slashing, scrapping, clawing at their opponent with super fast blows and left serrated lines of blood on their limbs. On the surface, it was an even battle. Rage was stronger but lacked speed, while Aisha had a lack of physical strength but greater stamina and was far faster.

"Ok, I've had enough." Rage clenched both fist, and each one was instantly impeded with orange fire. The flames danced around his talons, the heat was so intense Aisha was forced to retreat, but Rage didn't seem affected by it at all. He darted forward, again putting Aisha into a dodging situation, but the intense heat was slowing her reaction time and she received a blow straight in the face. The heat searing against her flesh made her scream out load.

"Alright, that does it." Gene snarled, loading his caster and running forward. Rage snapped his head around, his eyes glowing green. Gene again found that he couldn't control his actions, and his body forced him backward, almost to the edge of the platform. He would have tipped over, had not his friends pulled him in. 

"Stay out of this!" Rage stated with a high level of authority, pointing at Gene with one talon. Distracted, he didn't see Aisha lunge at him until it was too late. He grabbed him around the next and in the midst of a struggle filed with bird like screams and feline hiss's, she scored a mark across his face. While screaming in pain, Rage was venerable to attack, and Aisha took the opportunity to deliver a kick into his back.

Rage went flying, then rolled across the platform till the edge. He stopped dead there, his upper half dangling over the edge. 

"Man that felt weird." Gene muttered, shaking off the after effects of Rage's control. 

"I did warn you." Suzuka muttered, her eyes closed and shaking her head in disappointment.

"I told you to back off Gene." Aisha called over, looking angry. Her face have soaked in both Gungen, and her own blood. "I want to take this guy myself."

With a sudden burst, the limp form received new life. Rage sprung upward, somersaulting through the air and then landing solidly on his feet. "Ah crap!" She swore loudly. Rage clenched his fist, his bird like cry echoing throughout the entire station. His wings beat several times, enough to lift his form off the platform floor. He hovered in the air for a few minutes, before soaring toward the C'tral C'tral. Aisha leapt backward, but not soon enough to avoid a head on attack. She was knocking to the ground, two long cuts across the side of her face. A thick stream of blood already running from her wounds. 

Rage landed nearby, his form crouched for a few moment, before straightening up. Smiling evilly, he clasped his hands together, then wrenched them apart. A familiar orange orb between his talons, threads of miniature lightning dancing over it.

"Aisha, look out!" Jim cried. The C'tral C'tral snapped around, anger etched into every her face. Rage threw his arms forward, and the ball of energy was released. Screaming toward It's toward like a lightning bolt. with a earth shattering boom, it reached it's target. Dust and smoke erupted upward, casting a dark cloud over the entire platform. The battle had started to attract the attention of the people occupying the station, they stopped in the streets below to stare up at the platform high over and the pillars of smoke raining down over the edges. 

Rage entered the darkness, looking around to confirm that his opponent was destroyed. He'd never had to put this much energy into a blast before now, but he wanted to finish her off quickly and permanently.

"Impossible." He muttered as the smoke cleared slightly and a figure was seen. Smoke was rising from her form, blanketing her slightly, but it was unmistakably his opponent. She stepped further toward him. Her hair was singed, the ends black and thin trails of smoke rising from the tips. Parts of her clothes had burnt away, revealing part of her hip and both shoulders. Her eyebrows were crossed, her eyes set hard and her fangs barred.

"Ok, you've asked for it now Gungen!" Aisha snarled, her tail was nearly angled out straight in anger, the fur standing on end. Wait a minute, tail! Rage looked up toward her. Whiskers were emerging from her cheeks. 

"Oh no!" He muttered, jumping backwards to what he believed a safe distance. Aisha roared as he evolved into her beast form. What seemed like a hybrid between a wolf and a tiger, she descended onto four legs, a row of razor sharp teeth glinting at the Gungen. Her new fur exactly the same colour as he hair had been. He'd seen many C'tral C'tral over the years do this in battle, and secretly he'd hoped that they'd forgotten how to do it, apparently not. The next five minutes were probably not the ones Rage would back upon with the most fondness. Aisha was on an all out attack, her claws sinking deep into Gungen flesh with each strike. Rage was trying to defend himself, but in this form she was simply far too fast for it. While under the vial of the smoke, Rage got the stuffing kicked out of him.

Aisha lifted her paw to strike again, but Rage caught it in a tight grip, his talons clenching tightly around her. He was already streaked with blood and his wounds had made him loose even more speed than before, but somehow he kept hold of her, and without saying a word, heaved her into the air, and then slammed her down hard on the platform floor. A loud audible snapping sound gave Rage much pleasure and he stared at her, whimpering like some pathetic animal. Her paws twitching, small painful whimpers escaping her. In an almost rippling effect, Aisha transformed back into her previous state. What remained of her clothes manifested instantly, and so did her wounds. She grimaced in pain. She'd broke two ribs and possible more with that failed action. "The verdict is guilty." Rage said with the stain of satisfaction in his voice. He paused suddenly, backing off a few paces. Aisha looked up, confused. This was the perfect chance to finish her off, so why was he hesitating. The answer came when she saw the feathers on his face transform back to the healthy green and his eyes churn brown and then solidify as a blood red. The red of his form remained the tall stature of Rage, only the features on his faces seemed to sustain any change. Mal Zenith, the weaker of his personalities was trying to regain control. 

"Oh god, I'm sorry." He gasped, looking down at his talons, staring in shock at the blood dripping from the ends. He staggered backwards, breathing heavily. Aisha, still under great strain from her injuries, pulled herself to her feet. "Help me, please!" He begged almost silently, before red coursed over his features and green slid back into his eyes.

"Quiet fool!" Rage hissed as soon as he assumed command again. "I won't let you ruin my chance for vengeance." He turned back to Aisha. "You have lost miss Clan Clan, the verdict for your race is guilty." Aisha just grunted loudly

"I'm not finished yet." She stated, before collapsing to one knee, all her strength gone. Rae folded his arms, his head tilting to one side. 

"Your devotion to your race is admirable, but in your present condition your not much of a opponent." Aisha's pride was blaring brightly, it would not let her tolerate this situation. "You fought honourably, but it is over." 

"You bet it is!" She yelled, catching him off guard with new speed. Before he could contour, he found a knee slamming into his crouch. Stunned, he was unable to defend himself as Aisha, in a berserk fury, delivered slash after slash into his chest. Fuelled by her pride and her disgust by the control Rage exercised over Mal Zenith, she leapt up and smashed one of her most powerful kick straight across his head. The blow was sharp and strong, and it strained against her own leg, shattering the bone. 

The smoke cleared and Gene and the crew of the Outlaw Star rushed forward to see who the victor was. Out of the quickly disappearing curtain, the Gungen Warlord went flying, Jim and Suzuka dodged to the side to avoid being hit by his hurled body. 

Rage slammed into the support rail of the stairway leading off the platform, denting the metal bar. He was covered completely in his own blood, and seemed to barley have enough strength left to even more. He spat out a mixture of spit and blood, before yelling to the air. "So be it, the verdict, is not guilty!" And with that, he collapsed into a state of unconsciousness. His form rippled, his feathers changed from red to green and eyes from green to red. 

"Aisha, holy shit girl, are you ok?" Gene demanded, running over to the C'tral C'tral, who was lying in the middle of the platform. Her clothes torn and burnt, skin and hair coated in blood. She smiled weekly as her friends propped her up.

"I'm fine." She said with a smile. "But I don't think he did though." She raised a hand lightly, pointing toward the ruined form of Mal Zenith. He had carried the wounds of Rage, his green feathers coated in red blood. Melfina and Jim ran over to him.

"Those aren't going to heal on their own, we need to get you some help." Suzuka stated, pointing out the deep gashes and bruising that identified broken limbs. Aisha just growled. She didn't like being helped like some incapable infant, but since she was in no shape to even protest she said nothing. 

"Mal, are you ok?" Melfina asked in a frightened voice, with Jim's help picking the Gungen up and placing him over their shoulders. Jim checked his pulse, he was still alive, but if he didn't get some help soon that would change. Unbeknownst to any of them, Mal's eyes opened slightly, and for a few moments, he and Aisha stared at each other. Both wore big smiles on their faces. Before slipping away into sleep, Mal mouthed "thank you".

"Your welcome." Aisha whispered. 

(Authors note: There, the fight scene. A little over the top, but I wanted to make it last longer than ordinary fights in Outlaw Star. Romance parts start soon. Reviews please.)


	5. Valiant part 1

(Took a while to write this, sorry about the delay. I did leave that last ending hanging for a while. This is where it gets good, I promise...scouts honour! I have not seen the spin off serious ANGEL LINKS so this may contradict it slightly.)

Ps: Thanks all those guys for the great reviews)

On an undiscovered world, a stoat old man watched Rage slam into the side of the stair rail and fall unconscious, reverting back to his smaller, green form. His features were set in a hard frown, and the entire display from the monitor was reflected in a pair of spectacles that shielded two blue eyes. He was human, but his hair colour was dark green and tied back into a small pony tail. He was well into his sixties, but that the stature of a young man in his thirties and the muscle to match. He was dressed in a white laboratory coat, about a size too small which showed of his muscular bodily well. His hands however defied the rest of him, they were thin and the fingers long, almost bony. He'd seen enough of the recording to know the situation and quickly turned it off.

"Gwen Kahn, you couldn't have picked worse time to be foolish." He muttered with a certain amount of contempt in his voice. He turned his back on the surveillance unit and glanced around the rest of his laboratory. Apart from a table covered in dissection equipment, the middle was empty. Large machines linked to each other by large wires and cables. There were three, round bio stasis tanks standing erect on the far side of the room. Each one was filled with a blue liquid that glowed softly, bubbles rising from the bottom every now and again. The ceiling was a culmination of wires, pipes and mechanical apparatus, all linked to, or part of, the machines around the outside of the room. There was a large set of metallic doors on the far right hand side, painted with an italic row of black and yellow stripes. Growling loudly, his lips hidden beneath a thick, but short moustache, he crossed over the room to one of the round tanks, which had the resemblance of a large test tube. Examining it more closely, he could plainly see the small object floating in the liquid depths. An almost micro embryo, possibly human but still to early in it's development to have any distinguishing features. Gwen Khan, that complete idiot, going off to chase some phantom lay line and leave their greatest project completely in his hands. Because of his neglect, the idea of creating a perfect race of beings was nearly lost, but he had struggled to keep it alive. Their one block of life which had survived the trails. Which the funding he was getting from his new allies, he expected to finally finish his life's work at last. The dream was perfect, as was the creature he envisioned. The speed of a C'tral C'tral, the intelligence far exceeded that of a human, a saurian stamina and a Gungen's power. 

A monitor to his right hand side flipped itself off, buzzed with some static before an image solidified. "I take you heard of the recent developments." He muttered without turning his head to look at it. 

"This complicates matters slightly, but no fear. Rage, or Mal Zenith, whatever it is he is called will be in our custody shortly. Our own agents are already tracking the XGP toward a planet called Heifong, evidentially their captain must have changed his mind about our business deal." The reply came from over the speakers on either side of the monitor, the voice was male and extremely deep. Half of the room was lit with the soft glow from the screens surface. He chuckled to himself, he'd expected 

"Actually, as usual I've had a stroke of genius." The green haired man said with the hint of a smile creeping over the edges of his lips. "That female C'tral C'tral was capable of matching Rage… A rare strong breed, even amongst their race." He turned so he faced the monitor square on. "She could prove useful," His partner on the other end of the was half hidden in darkness, but from what could be seen, he was sitting in a chair facing the camera, a pane of windows behind him, a sun setting in the distance behind that.

"I like the way you think Toriyama." He said with a chuckle, putting on hand on his chin. "You are truly a great asset to our cause." Toriyama took the praise shamelessly.

"I urge you not the underestimate that crew." He warned, leaning forward, his arms behind his back. "They did after all manage to defeat the pirate Lord Hazanko, and you know how potent his Tao magic was." 

"I know." His partner put in suddenly. "But once they serve their purpose and deliver the Gungen to us, I will make sure that they will not pose a threat to our plans." Toriyama chuckled deep in his throat. 

"That's what I like about you, deadly efficient." His partner did not reply to that remark, but seemed pleased with it anyway. 

"Very well then Doctor, I look forward to the day when we see the universe cleansed of the filth of Outlaws, the corruption of the pirates and the arrogance of the space force." With that, the monitor flipped off. Toriyama stared at it blankly for a few moments. Yes, their cause. Outlaws were scum that deserved little more than death. Why they were welcomed on any civilised world was beyond his understanding. But soon they would all be driven out and exterminated like the insects they were. The pirates were worse and deserved far worse than extermination; whatever fate they could cook up for them would suffice, as long as it was nasty. As for the space fleet, destroying them would be a waste, the had well trained armies and powerful battleships, far more useful in the long run. They'd have to be re-educated a bit, but they'd come around eventually. 

The universe was filled with chaos. It needed to be united in one body, one voice, one empire. It was time for the conquest to begin.

"Commander…" A female servant with short, strawberry blond hair said once the man sitting in the chair in front of her turned off the monitor, leaving the room dark. The only light coming in through the large set of windows that opened up onto a balcony. The man was in his late thirties, with sleek black hair and piercing yellow eyes. He sat in a black leather chair; his knees overlapping each other, his fingers running through his hair. "They're about to start." The man's interest peeked as he twitched his head to the side. 

"I see." He said simply, before pushing his chair aside and standing up. "Tell my chauffeur I'm ready to leave now."

Rage had not resurfaced ever since loosing to Aisha over a month ago and for that the entire crew of the outlaw Star were grateful. Business for Hawking and Starwind enterprises had gotten worse since they returned to Heifong. Gene had tried to sell the orb to their buyer on Sentinel 3 but for some reason he wasn't interested any more. So he had had to make so with the pitiful low price the scrap merchant was willing to give him in exchange for it. Business returned to normal, with one added difference. 

With no where else to go or anything else to do, Gungen known as Mal Zenith stayed around, trailing them like some lost dog. He turned out to be more helpful than any of them had thought. As the various job offers came and went, he displayed a wide range of talents that possibly could be filtering down from Rage, or possibly not. Gene, who was a little worried at first about him staying with them, was quite happy to let him continue working since he didn't ask for wages. But then again none of them were certain he knew what wages were. As long as he got room and board with them, he seemed more than willing to do a decent days work. 

Ever since Rage's defeat, Aisha had seemed distant, detached from the rest of them. Jim had made an amateur diagnosis that she was still troubled by the presence of Gungen, a creature that, as a C'tral C'tral she had been taught to hate and fear since childhood. 

Jim couldn't really see what there was to fear. Mal was about as harmful as an injured puppy and just about as violent. Still, he couldn't really blame her. Rage, the vengeful personality that shared Mal's mind was the manifestation of the image of the Gungen she had been branded with and the fear that perhaps he would emerge again dogged everyone's minds. Jim had overlooked it nearly entirely, in fact he was starting to become good friends with him, both him and Melfina. 

Mal looked over toward the human boy, who was flipping through the channels on a small television screen and paused to reflect on how little sense his life actually made. The Gungen had no idea how he'd come to be here amongst these other beings, where he had been before, or what he had been doing out in space. Everything was a complete blank. He was however, aware of Rage's existence. He could feel him will deep inside. For now it was a dull presence in the back of his mind, but it's very existence made him feel insecure. Rage had made him do something he could never forget and he wasn't about to let that slide. 

He valued Jim's friendship, it was probably the only thing keeping his own sanity in check while he tried to piece together his torn existence. 

"Mal, give me a hand with these will you?" Gene called over, pocking his head out from behind a large wooden box. Most of the refitted warehouse Hawking and Starwind Enterprises called home was filled with them. 

"Sure." He replied, coming over. Gene looked the collection over, silently calculating how long it might take to transport them.

"Right, I can probably get four of these on the Outlaw Star by tonight so stack them over there." He said without turning, gesturing by the large door at the front. of the warehouse. "Hey Jim, could you help us out here?" 

"Give me a minute will you, there's a new report I want to catch." Was the reply. Gene sighed angrily, then put his clip board and pen down on the top of one of the crates while Mal pushed the first one forward. 

"Ok, that's so important that you can't tape it?" He asked, standing over Jim while he flipped through the channels.

"We're live today at the Space force launch base for the unveiling of the Valiant, a battleship ten years in the making. A vessel said to rival the Geomancer, the ship of the legendary pirate Lord Hazanko, in power and size." This was the Station Jim had been looked for. A news reporter was standing just in front of a glass window, beyond that was space. Floating in which were thousands of Space force cruisers and orbital space stations, every facility embedded into a gigantic asteroid. The space force had been trying for years to build a ship that would rival the Geomancer, a ship that had eluded their forces many times, striking with fury whenever it's master ordered. Jim had been waiting to see this new battleship for over a year, he'd read about it on the internet, in papers and in nearly every database linked to the military. "And near it is, the largest ship ever created." The camera shifted as the reporter, a female Saurian gestured to the window. Jim was left open mouthed at that he saw. The size of the valiant was incredible. Nothing he had read about that indicated that it would be this large. Even the largest cruisers, which were at least half a mile long were in it's shadow. This ship didn't just rival the Geomancer, it dwarfed it. 

The valiant had a triangular front the lanced outwards with uncountable numbers of turrets on the top and under ship. It was entirely silver with small blinking lights from windows covering it in a crisscrossing pattern. Two large cannons on either side of the front looked capable of blasting a hole directly through a small moon. The rest of the ship had a curved silver surface on each side, also covered with a multitude of turrets and large cannons that could rotate to point in any direction. At about halfway aloign it's length, the edges curved outward into the start of a massive pair of wings. The camera wasn't close to the ship itself, but front it's line of sight that was about all it could see of the colossal vessel. By it's size, Jim guessed it had to be taking up over half of the space available for ships waiting to be launched. He was speechless…Gene on the other hand, wasn't.

"Holy shit!" He swore out load, gapping at the T.V screen. "How much did that damn thing cost to build?" 

"500,000,000,000,000,000 Wong." Jim replied, his eyes never leaving the screen for an instant. "Give or take a few hundred million."

Aisha glanced again over the report she'd written for the C'tral C'tral empire. It outlined exactly what exactly the Outlaw Star had happened across in space, what had been realized from within and who exactly she had though a duel with. Her left arm was a sling and a bandages were wrapped around her thighs and large white plasters had been placed on the cuts Rage had dealt to her. She knew what would happen if she sent this report to her people. They would come and take Mal away, most likely for execution. He was the only remaining proof that Gungen's ever existed, and more to the point the only remaining proof of their genocide. They just didn't want to have the blame laid on them. 

But, she couldn't do that to Mal. She looked out of the window of her room. Inside the main warehouse area, A couple of large crates that a new client wanted delivered to Sentinel 3 in two weeks were stacked in piles. Mal was helping Gene stack the crates in a neat pile. 

He seemed so content here, but then she supposed that anyone in his situation needed a little stability in their lives. Her devotion to her people was strong, she couldn't just not warn them about the threat Rage possibly posed. He paused, then looked up toward her, as if sensing her stare. She quickly turned back to her work. After a few more minutes, she finished her report. For another few minutes she stared at it hard, then defying every ounce of loyalty she had for the C'tral C'tral empire, he screwed up the report she'd just written and tossed over her shoulder into a waste paper basket. She hadn't any idea why she'd done it, but her pride made her stick with her decision. 

"Aisha, can I talk to you a minute?" Asked a voice as a green, winged form flew in through the window. Apparently, Mal had never seen a door before and so preferred to enter a room by different means. She said nothing for a moment. Mal was not the being she feared, however she still felt awkward talking to him. 

"What is it Gungen?" She asked, with a superior tone in her voice. She had to let him know right from the start who she considered to belong to the superior species, if not for the shake of pride then for the rivalry between Gungen's and C'tral C'tral. He obviously didn't like that address but said nothing about it. 

"First of all I'd just like to say thank you." Aisha's defensive dissolved a little and she allowed a faint smile. 

"It was nothing." She retorted, trying to cover the tracks of her momentary weakness carefully. 

"I was just wondering why Rage was fighting you in the first place." He added, going right to the point. Aisha blinked, remembering how none of them had told Mal exactly why Rage had been so angry at the C'tral C'tral's. She didn't want to tell him, partly because of her patriotism and her pride, but also because she didn't want him going through any kind of emotional turmoil. She threw together something quickly in her head.

"He just didn't like me very much." It was a pathetic attempt at a lie, but Mal seemed to buy it. Luckily for her, he was so innocent he couldn't tell the difference between truth or lie. He was almost like a child in that respect. 

"He was very angry at you." He said absently, like he wasn't focusing on the here and now. "He still is too." He sighed, putting his claws on the outside wall through the window. "You must have done something pretty bad to make him that angry."

Heifong, CORE organisation military base:

"DUUZ, LOOK OUT!" Valeria screamed as the shot rang out, the broad shouldered saurian just had time to look over his shoulder before a bullet tore into his arm. She silenced a scream of pain with pure determination and kept going. Valeria swore loudly and swung the controls of the small ship around, coming overhead the Saurian. The security guards for the military facility was closing in around him and if he didn't get on board fast enough he was going to be caught. A rope ladder was thrown from the entrance of the round, black ship and Duuz caught the bottom ladder with his good arm and was hoisted into the air violently. The guard turned to stare in astonishment for a moment, before turning their weapons on the fleeing craft and opening fire. Every shot missed it's mark and Duuz pulled himself up into the ship.

"Damn it!" He said between gritted teeth. His blue scales were coated in a thin layer of blood, a new deep scar down the side of his face. His uniform in tatters. Valeria wasn't much better. Her blond hair was a complete mess, blood ran from the base of her hair lone, overlapped an eye and went down her cheek. "Never thought I'd be breaking into a space force base." With one fluid motion, he used his claws to reach into the wound on his left arm, take hold of the foreign lead object and pulled it out. He shuddered with the pain. Valeria grimaced, she knew as a Saurian he could take a bullet and live, but he would still feel the pain for a while.

"Can't be helped Duuz." Valeria said wearily, lowering her steal grey eyes. "If the what our spy in the CORE organisation told us is anywhere near what their planning to do…" She paused, remembering how the spy had been captured by the enemy. "At least we got this away from them." She added with a smile, patting the round package they had obtained. It was about the size of a soccer ball and reticular in shape, wrapped in a brown paper.

"They'll be expecting us to try and leave Heifong. So that means we'll have to find a safe place to hide in one of the cities." Duuz put it, tearing from cloth from his uniform and tying it around his arm. Valeria was already scanning through records on the small craft for something suitable. Her eyes settled on one name and she smiled. 

"Hawking and Starwind enterprises." Duuz looked up. 

"Starwind? Gene Starwind?" Valeria nodded. Duuz chuckled deep in his throat. "Your not suggesting what I think your suggesting." 

"It's the only place on this place we can go to at short notice, they'll send fighters after us soon and it's better if we have a general direction in mind." Duuz managed to pull himself to his feet. 

"Alright, let's go. I just hope our old Outlaw friend doesn't mind company."


	6. Valiant, part 2

Authors note (Didn't get a lot of reviews for the last chapter…well none really. Hope this chapters a little more crowd pleasing. Thanks to Nicky4 for spelling corrections…boy that was embarrassing.) 

****

Space force launching station:

As the massive crowd of ships gathered around the perimeter of the station, the massive Giant Valiant floated serenely in the launching area. It rivalled the station in pure size, it's wing span shadowing the small cruisers that hovered around it like a swarm of bees. Within the next few hour's the ship would officially become part of the space force. Security around the station had been intensified, the authorities fearing a pirate attack on the station may be imminent. 

Officials, senators and leaders from every empire in the known had started to gather in large numbers, guests of the financial owner of the Valiant and the president of the Core organisation. Saurian leaders, C'tral C'tral representatives, space force commander and people from many other races had 

The inside of the Valiant was a maze of metal corridors, hangers, combat posts and elevator shafts that went up and down at least a mile in each direction. Protected by a metal armoured skin, twenty feet thick. The security system inside the side was the most sophisticated ever created, however someone had managed to slip through undetected. 

A slim form, keeping to the shadows darted through the corridors of Valiant easily slipping past the gaze of the security cameras, her features hidden underneath a cloak. This ship had just been dubbed impossible to penetrate. She chuckled to herself, how wrong they had been. It had been difficult, but do able. Now, down to business. 

There was a guard standing at the end of the corridor, outside a steal door marked **01. **A sharp blow to the head and he was down. The door was easily overcome, patching in the right inscription code. The room beyond housed a large computer keyboard and screen. Wires and pipes ran from the machines themselves into holes in the ceiling and floor. This was a database filling system, every computer system on Valiant ran through this terminal. 

She ran her fingers over the keyboard, before slipping a blank CD into the drive. The screen flipped on, displaying the symbol of the financial company that had helped develop Valiant's technology, the CORE organisation. Two circles, on in the middle of the other, a star directly in the centre. After the loading was complete, the system automatically turned on the database files. 

"Come to momma." She said with a smile, locating the files behind a pitifully constructed firewall and began the download process. A yellow bar, slowly filling with red appeared on the screen. The words "download completed in two minutes flashed up on the screen. Her clenched her teeth, it wouldn't be long before they noticed the access from this terminal and security would be all over her. "can't you go any faster." A few tense moments passed, before the computer completed it's task and the files were copied onto her disc. In an instant, he tore the CD from the computer and put in back into her pocket.

As he walked out the room, a gun shot rang out, and she clung to the wall. Her presence had been revealed far sooner than she originally thought. Already, three security guards, each armed with a laser rifle were running down the corridor toward her. 

"Hold it right there!" One of them shouted, resting the rifle against her shoulder and closing one eyes, aiming the weapon toward her as he ran. Time to leave, she thought to herself, leaping over the body of the guard she'd knocked out earlier, running back the way she'd come. Within the space of a few short moments, the alarms went off. Blaring sirens on the side of the wall announcing to the entire ship that she was here. 

Every time she passed an overhead lock down door she could see them lowering. They were trying to shut her inside. Well, not this girl. She reached into her cloak and withdrew a small round device. It fitting into her palm easily, it was black with a red centre, directly in the middle was a small digital dial. As the last lock down door before the air lock slammed into place, he pressed a hidden button on the device and hurled it directly toward the obstacle. The dial on the disc started counting down from five seconds. Then with a earth shaking blast, it exploded, blowing the lock down door to pieces. The force of the explosion blew her hood off, revealing her face. In that same moment, one of the security camera's focused in on her, staring directly at her with is' glass eye. Angrily, she brushed a few strands of black hair out of her face.

The security control room for the Space force launching station was a large oval shaped room with a flat, low ceiling. A thick row of monitors that displayed footage from the security cameras were arranged in an arch around the edge of the room. A technician was sat in chairs tending to the needs of the equipment, officers running from each one collecting information.

"Where is she?" A large saurian demanded, bursting into the room from a large door on the far side. He wore a space com and uniform furbished with medals and the CORE organisation logo. His scales were bright green and he had a small horn on the end of his snout, his eyes a dirty flaxen yellow.

"She escaped into the station itself sir, after that she must have gotten on board one of the leaving shuttles before we could stop here. Security teams in the station can't find hide nor hair of her." One of the officers reported. The saurian thumped a fist into the side of the wall, cracks spreading out like a spiders web from his knuckles.

"This ship is suppose to be an impregnable fortress. So tell how it was possible that our defence system was compromised by a single women?!" 

"We don't know sir."

"Not good enough. I want a detailed examination and evaluation of the entire security blue prints." He pushed past him, advancing over to the camera controls. "I hope you can give me some good news." The technician looked up weekly.

"We did manage to get a picture of her face sir." The saurian smiled.

"Well' it's a start. Let's see it." The technician pressed a button on his control panel an a women's face appeared. She had pale skin and thick black hair in a middle parting. The most noticeable feature was the large red patch over her right eye. "I want every station in his sector on alert for this vigilante. I want her killed and the data she copied from our main systems destroyed." Aye sir. The saurian straightened himself up. "And I'd best report this to the high command."

Someone up there obviously liked her. She'd escaped death many a time, some too close for comfort and today was no exception. As the technician shuttle soured away from the station, she watched the giant ship and the station itself getting smaller and smaller from her hidden position in the shuttle's cargo bay. Obviously they'd be looked for her, so getting as far away from the Valiant as she could was the apparent decision to make. But she'd be back to make use of the data she'd stolen.

She wasn't about to let these CORE guys get away with what they were planning. She was going to make sure they knew that Hot Ice Hilda was not the person they wanted to annoy.

Heifong:

The streetlight outside Hawking and Star wind enterprises warehouse had gone out, shadowing the buildings entrance. Which suited the needs of Duuz and Valeria as they slipped quietly through the darkness. The sun had set long before they had been able to land their small craft. The only safe landing place had been a few miles away so they had had to make the rest of the journey on foot. 

Neither of them were liking this journey much, They were cold, hungry and extremely tired and Duuz had several painful shot gun wounds. The trip however was necessary. With the entire known universe on the brink of revolution the two of them were willing to go to the extremes to preserve the peace. They would have greatly preferred it if this burden had been let on someone else's doorstep, but luck of the draw would hear nothing of it. The light creeping out from under the door looked incredibly inviting.

"You ok?" Valeria asked as her blue scaled saurian partner as he grimaced, one large scaly hand on his injury. 

"I'll be fine." He asked, teeth gritted. Valeria sighed wearily, then pushed the door directly to the side of the larger warehouse entrance open. "Modest…" She muttered to herself. The home of the great Gene Starwind was spacious is nothing else. A few large crates were stacked to her left hand side, almost blocking the doors full swing. A sofa and a TV sat in the right hand corner, a side table covered in women's magazines. A door on the far right lead into another room. On the far side of the warehouse was a small set of stairs that lead up to a long walkway that progressed horizontally across a large window. The light was coming from overhead amongst the metal ceiling rafters. There wasn't a soul to be seen anywhere. 

Duuz hauled himself over to the sofa and slumped his weight down on it, resting his arm on the arm rest, sighing in intense amounts of relief. 

"Looks like their not in." He said to himself. Giving the place the once look around with a contempt full look on his face.. "Well, they won't mind us making ourselves at home." Valeria advanced further in, closing the door behind her, putting the wrapped parcel down on the side table. Duuz picked up the remote and began channel surfing while his human partner took a look in the side room. After discovering it lead into a kitchen, he turned back. It wasn't what she imagined from Gene but it would have to do. The question on her mind now was, where to go from here? They had to present the evidence to the authorities, before time ran out. They had to get to Angel links headquarters. But that wasn't going to be easy. 

The wounds hurt a lot more than Duuz was letting on, but he really didn't want his partner to worry about him. His saurian pride kept his quiet. He could take this, no problem. Some TV would take his mind off it.

"Five thousand channels and nothing good on." He said eventually, having flipped through them all. Giving in to boredom, he picked up a women magazine and started to read it.

Valeria paused as she heard a muffled sound coming from the side closet. She blinked, listening. It came again, only louder. Without hesitating, she pushed the door open. To her surprise, tied up with tape over their mouths was Jim Hawking and Melfina Their arms and legs were bound by a few lengths of white rope, Jim's body twitching to try and free itself.

"Dear god, what the hell happened here?!" She asked, untying them. Once Jim's arms were free, Jim pulled his gag off his lips, without the traditional "ouch". Melfina was crying, thick salty streams running down the side of her face. 

"F&*%%$ bastards took them!" Jim yelled out load, thumping the side of the wall. 

"Hey, let us out of here!" Gene yelled, slamming his body against the door of their cell, his efforts proving futile. His hands were shackled by a pair of electronic cuffs, keeping them behind him. Suzuka sat in the corner, legs folded and eyes closed. Their cell was small and nearly completely dark, the only light coming from the grate in the door. Gene clenched his teeth, then tried again, and again, and again. He decided he wasn't going to get anywhere when his shoulder developed large amounts of muscle pain and the door hadn't budged. 

He had only woken up a few minutes ago, to find himself trapped with Suzuka. His large canvas yellow cloak, complete with hidden castor gun had been removed, so had Suzuka's sword. It had all happened so fast, everything was normal for one moment, then the next some army guys came from out nowhere. Himself, Aisha and Suzuka had tried to defend themselves but obviously someone had knocked them out at some point, then dragged them here. But that deduction didn't help him figure out why or by whom. He felt anxious, having no idea where the others were. He swallowed hard, if anything happened to Melfina he'd make these people pay with their lives. Suzuka was little help, she didn't know anything more about this than Gene did, having just woken up herself. 

There was a guard standing just outside the door, armed with a laser rifle and was largely ignoring Gene's demands. "Oh man, this stinks." He cried, slamming his back against the door. 

"I did try to tell you, you were just wasting your energy." Suzuka muttered, opening one eye. Gene growled under his breath, letting his head gaze up toward the dark ceiling for little reason. 

"Must be a military installation of some kind." He muttered, stating the obvious. "I just want to know what they want us for." 

"I'm more concerned about the where they kept the others." Gene narrowed his eyes, reminded again about the yet unanswered question. He advanced over to the door and shouted through the grate.

"Hey crap for brain's, what you guys do my crew?" The guard turned around, his eyes hidden behind a black visor. 

"Shut your trap Outlaw filth." He replied. "Before I knock some discipline into you."

"Oh yeah, well come and get a piece of me. You wouldn't be making threats if my hands weren't tied you mothers boy!" That seemed to push the guards red button, as he raced into the call and smashed the shoulder rest of his rifle into Gene's stomach, knocking the breath out of him. Gene yelled out load, spittle thrown from his lips. This sudden blow was followed by kick after kick to the ribs. When he was satisfied, he returned to his station, slamming the door behind him. 

"You're an idiot." Suzuka muttered. Gene groaned, then started chuckled under his breath. As he pulled himself up, he presented her with a pair of key's he'd taken from the guard while he was beating the living shit out of him. Suzuka stared at them, bewildered for a moment. "I didn't think you were capable of intelligent manoeuvres like that."

"This is the one?"

"Yes sir."

"Good, give her the stimulants, I want her wide awake."

"Yes sir." 

Aisha stirred at the small jab in her arm, then she found something pulling herself away from her sleep. Light manifested first, followed by sound and then her senses returned fully. She found herself strapped to a metal table, tilted forward so he was in an upright position. 

"Good morning." Said a voice, she looked down. Standing in front of her was a human male, his skin was partially wrinkled and his hair was dark green, he had broad shoulders and a large arms. There were a small pair of spectacles on his thick nose and he was dressed in a white laboratory coat. Standing next to him holding a syringe was a solider dressed in a Space force commando's uniform. As her instincts kicked it, she struggled against her restrains, yelling all manner of C'tral C'tral curses into the air. Even with her strength, she found he was completely helpless to move. 

"No need to get catty." The man in the white coat said with a hint of humour in his voice. Aisha noticed the room they were in, it was apparently some kind of laboratory. She could see equipment dotted around the room. Bio stasis tanks, Gene analysis computers, rows of dissection equipment, this was odiously a genetic engineering lab. The floor was nearly coated completely in wires and pipes, and so was the high ceiling. Other soldiers were standing around the outside of the room, ach one looked a still as a statue. It was then she noticed a figure, floating serenely in one of the bio stasis tanks at the far side of the room. It was Mall Zenith. The Gungen had his eyes closed and his limbs pointing toward the floor, like he was sleeping. 

"What the hell have you done to him!" She screamed, nearly pulling her arm free out of pure anger. The scientist shrugged his shoulders

"We don't want Rage on our hands so we're keeping him sedated for now." He replied, brushing a few strands of hair out of his eyes. Aisha clenched her teeth, staring with a defiant glare at him. "I must say you did surprise me, defeating Rage like that." He added, a smile creeping over his face. "A fighter of your calibre is unique. I knew from the moment I saw that fanatic duel, I had to use you for my experiments, as well as the Gungen." 

"Who the crap do you think you are?!" She asked, spittle forming on the edges of her lips.

"I am Toriyama." He said softly. "Doctor Toriyama." She narrowed her eyes. She remembered hearing about this psychopath. He had been a galaxy renowned genetics scientist, the respected authority on mutation and hormone manipulation, that is until he started to create hybrids. That kind of genetic alteration had been outlawed ever since the creation of the Saurian race. "Samples of your D.N.A, taken while you slept, I am most grateful for." She snarled at him, enraged at the thought of this …human taking any kind of sample from her body. "Without them, I'm not sure I would have been able to create this." Toryiama gestured to his left hand side. Aisha turned her head to look. There was another bio stasis tank in the wall, embedded in large pipes and wires. Growing inside the green liquid within, was some sort of creature. Nowhere near fully developed, but large enough for Aisha to see the beginnings of a thin tail. "I spent years trying to perfect the living organism, to create the perfect race of beings. I do believe, after thirty years of research and all night work, I finally succeeded." He turned to give her a sadistic smile. "What do you think?" When she didn't reply, Toriyama let his smile descend into a frown. "Oh well, it's not completed yet. It's still lacking one essential ingredient." Aisha got the hint immediately.

"Leave him alone!" She snarled as the scientist approached the tank which Mal Zenith was held captive in. He ignored her and began to operate the machine which the tank was attached to.

"Beginning extraction." He announced to all those present, and let his fingers fly over the controls. The green water inside the tank bubbled, and lights around the rim of the tank turned on. Aisha struggled, yelling every kind of swear word she knew in a vain attempt to pull herself up. Suddenly, Mal's body twisted and he screamed in pain, the sound muffled by the water around him. "There we go." Toriyama said without warning, then flipped a switch and the reaction died away and Mal's body was left to float. "The procedure causes a lot of pain, but it's the most effective way to get it done."

"You son of a bitch!" Toriyama just grinned at her as the machine gave him a small vial containing a tiny amount of pink liquid. He tossed it up in the air, then caught it in his other hand nimbly between two fingers.

"And now my dear, it's your turn." He put the vile in his coat pocket and began to approach. A strange grin over his lips, an evil glint in his eyes, "I need lots more samples for my new race of super soldiers, and since you've insisted on calling me every name under every sun since you woke up I'm not going to give you the privilege of being under anaesthetics."


	7. Blood and Torture

(Sorry next chapter took so long)

Toriyama held the vial up to his face, inspecting the pink contents carefully, before adding another liquid from a needle less syringe in his other hand. A green infected the contents, changing it to a light purple. A smile spread over his face. He sighed happily, before passing over to the table, placing the vial into a test tube rack amongst other samples he'd taken from his new subjects. Aisha was in intense amounts of pain, far more then she could bear. Still strapped to the metal board, with her claws rendered useless she'd been helpless to stop him. Every point around the sides of her arms ached and her legs felt numb. Time had no meaning to her, days, hours, minutes blurred into one long hell which she was praying to the gods to end. Every time Toriyama collected one of his samples, he fed it to his foul creation he kept stored in the second tank. Every time he did, it grew. Getting bigger and bigger, It's dark shape eclipse by a light that shone down from the top of it's tank. 

It was vile creation, but it's creator was far more repulsive. Each time he would think of some new sadistically way to extract genetic material, making sure it caused as much pain as possible. It seemed to excite the man in way's that made her want to puke. 

Toriyama didn't neglect the winged Gungen trapped inside the bio stasis tank. He seemed to collect just as much from Mal as he did from her. Each time he activated his machine, the unconscious body of the winged being squirming in pain. Like he was having a seizure or spasm.

"Doctor Toriyama, The Valiant is half an hour away from it's scheduled launching," The doctor turned to face the monitor on the far wall that had switched itself on, his arms behind his back. Aisha could see another syringe in his hand. She was in too much pain to hand to see who it was Toriyama was speaking to. "We are beginning to run short of time, is your project almost complete?" The doctor gained a large grin. 

"Almost complete? It's already advanced past my wildest expectations and still growing." There was a small errie silence as the person on the other side of the conversation paused, considering the doctor's words. "And I haven't even taken a sample from Rage yet." 

"Excellent, you shall be rewarded for your efforts Doctor."

"I do hope so." Toriyama muttered with a fake smile. With that, he switched off monitor, this partner disappearing in a quick flip. 

"I think I've got enough of this little weakling." Toiryama scratched his chin, tapping his index finger against the side of his cheek. He was looking directly at the glass tank in which Mal hung almost lifelessly. His face highlighted green by the glow from inside. "Assistant, prepare brainwave analysis. I want to know exactly which part of the subconscious Rage is hiding in." The woman looked up from her notes briefly, before nodding and going over to the controls, her fingers running over the key pad. Aisha's eyes snapped open. That was the final straw! Her body demanded blood offering to appease it's pain and anger, and she was more than happy to oblique. Summoning near super human, _er…C'tral C'tral strength_, she literally ripped through their bounds. Toriyama snapped around, mouth wide open in surprise Aisha snarled, baring her fangs, before she leapt at him, pinning him to the floor with a loud thud. The solders around the edge of the room gave a loud yell, before converging on her. Aisha however was ready for them. As soon as they reached her, she leapt into the air, smashing two of them in the face with a kick. Another backed off a few feet and reached for his laser rifle. Aisha speed across the floor and dealt him a punch in the stomach, forcing him onto the cold metal floor. 

"Sedate her!" Toriyama screamed, and almost at once Aisha felt a sharp pang in her left shoulder. Glancing in that direction she just had enough time to see a dart embedded in her flesh before she felt whatever strength she had disappear. They were on her in moments. "I don't need her anymore, put her down." Came in the instruction. Aisha looked up weekly and caught sight of the syringe containing deadly toxins they were preparing to administer. 

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She's in pain.

You speak as if I should care? 

We must help her.

Why? She is a member of the race who destroyed ours. Have you gone soft? Have you forgotten the pride of our people?

I need your help, please. I beg of you.

You will find no assistance from me.

Would you rather the both of us spend eternity locked in this tank for this sick doctor's amusement?

Rather that then loose what remains of my honour.

I remember the old days well enough now. I remember that we were once one, a great warrior, a champion of the Gungen frontier. We were also a kind person, we showed compassion and understanding to all forms of life. Even captive C'tral C'trals. That is honourable. Not standing aside, watching another suffer and not lifting a finger to do anything about it. 

If you want to rescue her, do it yourself. 

I can't. I need your help. 

….

PLEASE!

I know I'm going to live to regret this but your persistence has rewarded you. But I'm only going to do this because that perverted creature has been trying my patience with the constant probing. As for the C'tral C'tral female, you contend with her. 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

With a spray of glass and liquid, the tank holding Mal erupted. Toriyama spun around, mouth open in astonishment. The Gungen was on the metallic floor, his feathers matted. Talons sunk into the groves between the metal plates on the floor. His breathing was loud and laboured. His arms were out in front of himself, helping to support his weight. The tip of the needle paused above Aisha's skin as the solider paused to stare at the sudden event. Mall looked up, anger burning in his eyes. With a sudden burst, his size increased itself by a good few feet.

The crest of feathers on top of his head shrank into a row of spikes, his talons seemed to grow, becoming sharper and gaining a serrated edge. His wings fluttered angrily, before taking on a more streamlined appearance, gleaming like a well polished blade. with a sudden burst of colour, his feathers changed from green to red. 

Slowly, he stood up, his eyes glowing bright green. 

"Well don't just stand there you brain dead bastards, take him down!" Toiyama screamed at them. Without hesitation, they shoved Aisha to the floor and reached for their rifles. Rage snapped his head to one side as the first shot rang out and with super fast reflexes, dodged to the side to avoid the blast. Aisha looked up, unable to keep up with him. She was too tired, the sedative they had already administered to her taking affect. She was barely able to pull herself up to a sitting position. All she could do was watch in a daze. 

The first blood was drawn as Rage slammed his talons directly through the torso of one of them. Toriyama angrily screamed unhelpful instructions to his men such as "kill him you idiots!" Rage ducked under the spray of bullets, slipping between them with effortless ease. Before two of the guard's could defend themselves, he sliced his talons across their knees, separating them from their legs. He didn't leave them in pain for long those, once he was sure they were defenceless, he slammed a hand through their heads, impaling their brains. 

The intensity of the glow from Rage's eyes increased and his two of his attackers stopped dead. Rage smiled and stood up straight, offering his open talons toward him. With a distant look on their faces, they handed over their weapons without a moments hesitation.

"Thank you." He said, before turning the weapons around and shooting both of them through the chest. Both bodies went flying across the floor before slamming into the side of each wall. Blood scrapping along behind them/

Toiryama shrank away from the action, before turning and running over to the wall. Smashing his fist against the alarm switch. Security alarms blared out, the lighting for the laboratory suddenly turning red. 

Rage snapped his head up, looking directly at the doctor. Toriyama screamed, backing against the wall. Rage straightened himself up, his eyes burning bright green. With slowly, frightening movements he began to walk toward him. Arms spread wide, talons angled forward. Bathed in the red security light, his presence was a menacing shadow that terrified Toriyama to the core of his soul. The wings spread wide, giving Rage the visage of an avenging angel. 

Suddenly, the human scientist blinked. His frightened exterior disappeared and an evil smile spread over his lips. He reached into his cuff and withdrew a small black device with a one red button on it. Chuckling, his pressed the button with his thumb. His eyes glinting with evil satisfaction.

The machinery behind Rage blipped, and the tank holding Toriyama's foul creation emptied itself of the bio stasis liquid. The creature inside falling to the bottom of the tank. Rage stopped to stare over his shoulder in puzzlement. The creature itself was struggling, snapping it's jaws and writhing as it attempted to assert control over it's body for the first time. After a couple of moment, it discovered how to stand on it's hind legs and once it was steadily on it's feet, it clenched it's fists and screamed. The scream pierced the air like an arrow, so high in pitch that Rage was taken aback by the blow to his ears. It's eyes snapped open, revealing that like Rage they were glowing bright green. 

This creature was horrific to look at. It at the basic form of Saurian, with feathered wings sprouting out it's back. The scales were golden, with a red highlight running along the outside edges of each one. Like Rage, it had three talons on each hand and two on it's feet, but these ones seemed to gleam brightly in the red light, like they weren't made from bone but rather solid steal. Matted fur was growing out of its back, running down between it's wings and along it's tail. The wings themselves were a good deal larger than Rage's and were raven black, a blue tint at the end of each one. It's blue slathering tongue ran over it's teeth, so sharp that the tongue bled whenever it did so. The creature didn't seem to mind the pain.

It had noticed him and the Gungen Warlord could plainly see the hunger in it's eyes. Studying the glass barrier between itself and it's query only for a moment, it reared it's head back and then smashed through the glass in a shower of shards. It slammed it's right foot down on the metallic floor, the tips of it's talons curved around the grooves in the grating. Electrodes still attached to the machinery snapped as the creature gained footing and advanced forward.

Toriyama had had to stop the creature's incubation stage prematurely, it was still mindless, savage, unrelenting. No where near the intelligent, perfect being he envisioned. He still had the data in his computer system however, along with spare samples of DNA taken from the subjects previously. He could start again just as easily, without the clumsy period of trial and error he had been forced to endure before. "Yes, that's it my beautiful son." Toriyama laughed. "Kill them, kill them all!" 

Aisha could not stay awake, the sedative in her system had taken full affect and it was taking every ounce of will power for her to simply remain mobile. She had received several cuts from the glass on the floor, and several shards were still buried in her right leg. A long deep cut on her left cheek, running from the top of her nose was sweating a steady river of blood. 

Her reverses of strength depleted, she fell to the ground, collapsing completely. She felt herself burn with anger, She was a C'tral C'tral, the most advanced race in the galaxy. Her pride would not allow herself to give into any weakness. Will power feeding her soul, she defied the sedative running through her veins and pulled herself to her feet. She forced her eyes open. 

Catching a glimpse of red feathers, she darted to the side, her limbs aching. Rage slammed back into the side of the metal slab, denting the surface. 

It's scaly face set in a permanent sneer, the creature advanced over to the winded War lord, who was still trying to gather himself after that last blow. This creatures physical strength surpassed his own, greatly. He tried to pull himself up, but pain spread through his side as he tired to do so. The blow had broken at least half of his ribs. He found even standing on his own two feet a chore. 

Snarling, Rage held his arms out in front of himself, pushing a good amount of kinetic energy down his arms and out into the air through his palms. The creature absorbed the blast head on, forcing it down on one knee, screaming in anger and frustration. But not, to Rage's utter disappointment, in pain. 

With strength that defied the force Rage was keeping on it, the creature stood up, and then leapt forward, seizing the Gungen Warlord's throat in it's large scaly hands, it's talons tightening dangerously. 

His legs still free, Rage slammed kick after kick into the creature's stomach, sinking his talons deep into the soft flesh. To his horror, the creature didn't seem to care. It had it's sight's set on prey and it was not letting go. Rage was trying frantically to influence it's mind, to force it to relinquish it's grip, but it wasn't working. The mind was too savage, to filled with chaos to allow any kind of control.

Aisha simply leant over while both of them where distracted and head butted the creature. This, with a simultaneous kick from Rage to it's guts, forced it to let go. It staggered backward a few steps, roaring in frustration

"I do not require any assistance, especially from you!" Rage snarled angrily, catching his breath for a moment, before propelling himself forward toward the stunned creature, talons held forward. 

"Whatever.." Aisha managed with a faint smile. 

Rage dove into the melee, talons cleaving through flesh and bone, scrapping through scale and fur. Trying desperately to rend it's target into tiny pieces, but Toiryama's creation endured. Snapping back, trying to lock Rage behind it's large serrated teeth. It had come down to, eventually, a stalemate of blow after bloody blow and neither one of them showed any signs of weakening. This is of course until Toriyama foul creation managed to deal Rage a slash across the belly, and as the Gungen warlord staggered in pain, delivered a fierce head butt into his smaller frame, sending him flying across the room. Impacting with a loud resonating thud on the lock down security door. He slid down to the floor and collapsed, defeated. 

The creature, despite having several large bloody gashes on it's right shoulder, forearms and left leg, roared in triumph, the very world around it seemed to tremble at it's victory call. 

Someone whistled loudly. The creature faltered, sniffed loudly, before turning to look back over it's shoulder. One of the lock down doors had opened. And standing there, to Aisha's delight was Gene and Suzuka, Gene armed with a vary large bassuka type weapon he'd stolen from their armoury. 

"Knock knock." He said with a cruel smile, before pulling the trigger. A large rocket erupted from the barrel, tormenting through the air before it embedded itself directly in the creatures body. A loud scream escaped it's lips before it's form was scattered in a spray of flesh and blood. 

"NOOO!" Toriyama screamed.

"Aisha, you ok?" Gene asked, dropping the weapon as he helped her to her feet. Aisha growled at him.

"What the hell took you so long?" 

"It turned out he'd swiped the wrong key." Suzuka answered, hoisting the unconscious Rage onto her shoulder, who was groaning loudly in pain.

"Ok let's go!" Gene announced, helping to balance herself by placing an arm around her shoulders.

"One moment." Aisha growled, before he picked up a large piece of metal that had splintered off the table and tossed it through the air. It hit Toriyama directly in the face, knocking him out cold. He fell to the floor with a loud thump. "Ok, now we can go."


End file.
